One of Chicago’s biggest culinary hits of the early pandemic, this virtual pizzeria in February settled into a permanent space in a former Uptown diner. The city’s love affair with Milly’s shows no sign of slowing as owner Robert Maleski is still regularly selling out of his popular deep-dish pies with caramelized cheese baked into the crust. The restaurant, which seats 20, has allowed Maleski to increase the number of pies he can serve. For the time being, he can put out 35 pizzas on a busy night and aims to raise that number to 40.

Jimmy’s Pizza Cafe moved into a larger restaurant space in late February with more big booths, a liquor license, and TVs. Before, the NY-style pizza specialist was primarily a to-go spot. But with the new real estate, owner Jimmy Kang has the room to try new pizza styles and offer new items. New York and Chicago enjoy a strong rivalry, but both cities offer delicious styles of pizza. Jimmy’s will convince the most ardent Chicago homer that New York pizza is worth their time.

Parachute, the widely adored restaurant from James Beard Award-winning chefs and spouses Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark, roared back to life in Avondale in May for the first time since March 2020. Kim and Clark have overhauled the Korean American menu, shelving some of the restaurant’s most well-known dishes (including its popular bing bread) in favor of a clearer emphasis on traditional Korean cuisine. After such a long hiatus — largely spent on much-needed renovations, as well as the couple’s numerous charitable endeavors — the reopening comes as a relief to Parachute’s throngs fans across the city and country.

This brilliant Logan Square bakery sells some of the best chocolate chip cookies in town. But the savory items, which include Roman-style sheet pizza and specials like an Italian beef croissant, are perfect for a quick lunch. Get there in the morning or risk missing out on the more popular items.

Albion Manor is a work in progress in Lincoln Park, between Clybourn and Elston, near Pequod’s and the Webster Place shopping center. The upstairs focuses on fancy drinks, while the lower level is come as you are, with a menu that includes a stellar fish and chips with fried chickpeas and a jerk-style remoulade in place of tartar sauce. This British-style pub food is great while watching a soccer match.

Chicago’s only Filipino fine-dining experience is the hottest table in town since Kasama began dinner service in November. The Ukrainian Village cafe continues its morning and afternoon hours, but later in the day the operation shuts down to allow staff to prepare to serve chef Tim Flores’s unusual tasting menu. Flores riffs on classic dishes like lumpia and pancit, while offering modern ingredients such as A5 wagyu. Pastry chef and co-owner Genie Kwon serves up halo-halo and more surprises for dessert. Kasama is on Eater’s list of America’s Best New Restaurants and it’s earned its first Michelin star.

As dining rooms closed during the pandemic, carry-out and delivery reigned. One of the most popular to-go operations came from Henry Cai, a Chicago native inspired by his father’s exploits working at Chinese restaurants, who started selling Chinese-American food via Instagram under the name 3 Little Pigs. The response to his Cantonese cooking, with his signature three-pork fried rice, noodles, and dumplings was tremendous. He’s now found a home in Humboldt Park where he can make food six days a week. The operation will expand once he gets more kitchen equipment and he’ll be able to bring back his delectable smoked ribs and more. Cai hopes to open in a new location with a dining room sometime in 2022.

Café Sophie, a riff on mellow Italian cafes in Rome and Florence, swung open its doors in April with a selection of pastries, wood-fired breakfast sandwiches, and a full bar in a cozy, 20-seat space where patrons can linger and relax. The all-day neighborhood spot is from What If Syndicate, the group behind Maple & Ash and Etta. There’s also a retail section where customers can buy home kitchen supplies.

The owners of Bob’s Pizza (none of whom are named Bob) have classified its pies as “Pilsen-style” because its original location is on 21st Street in, yes, Pilsen. Chef Matt Wilde, who began his career in fine dining, ferments his crust with Old Style beer, tops it with high-quality ingredients in unusual combinations like pickles and mortadella, and finishes each pizza with a cheffy sprinkle of salt, pepper, and fresh herbs. At this fourth and latest location inside Recess, Bob’s is available by the slice or by the whole pie.

Chef Saúl Román’s menu at Tabú, which began as a Taco Tuesday pop-up inside Recess, blends North American comfort food with Latin American flavors: a French dip made with mole, for example, and fried chicken with tamarind gravy served in a tortilla. There is also a take on the Taco Bell Mexican Pizza, which is valuable intel now that the fast food version has become scarce again. But the standout may be the churroulette dessert: six churros arranged in a facsimile of a bullet chamber of a gun, one of which is infused with habanero chile. Which is it? You’ll have to taste it to find out.

Chefs Patrick Bouaphanh and Andrew Choi originally launched Jinsei Motto as a sushi pop-up inside CH Distillery (the maker of Jeppson’s Malört), and have now settled into a permanent space at the distillery in the West Loop. The menu features a 14-course omakase meal for $140, as well as an a la carte selection of nigiri, sashimi, and maki.

Liang has become a popular quick-serve restaurant in Asia with celebrity endorsers. Tony Hu (Lao Sze Chuan) has brought the concept to Chicago’s Chinatown. These wraps feature a paratha-like flatbread stuffed with chicken, beef, and other fillings. It’s a satisfying quick snack on the go and should be popular with a younger customer base that doesn’t want a traditional sit-down meal.

Chinatown’s first cocktail bar, a speakeasy-style spot tucked inside the nearly 50-year-old neighborhood institution Moon Palace, has bounded out of the gate since its May debut, attracting crowds with a menu of Asian-influenced cocktails made with liquors like baiju, soju, and shochu in sleek, Blade Runner-esque digs. Nine Bar is the creation of bartenders Lily Wang (Estereo) and Joe Briglio (Blind Barber), and features a fun snack menu from chef Elvis Mom (Spinning J) that includes Hong Kong-style French toast with vegan milk bread, a McKatsu sandwich with American cheese and Bulldog tonkatsu sauce, and fries smothered in mapo chili sauce.

One of the most anticipated openings of 2022 is off to a roaring start: reservations at Bronzeville Winery, the ambitious restaurant and wine bar from urban planner Cecilia Cuff and Silver Room owner Eric Williams (not to be confused with chef Erick Williams of Virtue), are booked through June. Bronzeville residents and diners across Chicago are clamoring to try chef Whitney McMorris’s (Moto, the Aviary) beautiful and exacting menu, which includes a smoked and cured watermelon steak, a trio of fried oysters, and filet mignon.

This is the rebirth of a family-owned Mexican restaurant in Archer Heights, near Midway International Airport. Solazo’s ownership learned a lot when it opened La Josie along Randolph Restaurant Row in West Loop. It now applied those lessons to the original restaurant without sacrificing the friendly neighborhood feel that drew patrons in the first place. The tacos, queso, and other items have never tasted better, and now customers can enjoy amped-up cocktails.